Skip to main content

German Joh. Sahler contractor goes down the Hitachi route

German contractor Joh. Sahler has changed its entire fleet of construction machinery to Hitachi Zaxis excavators. The two ZX38U-5s, ZX48U-3, ZX85USBLC-5, ZX145W-3, ZX170W-5 and ZX190W-3 were ordered by the Leverkusen-based company in June last year and delivered by the country’s authorised Hitachi dealer, Kiesel. Joh. Sahler was founded in 1945 and is now owned by a third-generation family member, Antonius Eisbach, and managed on a day-to-day basis by directors Dietmar Müller and Matthias Schindler. It has
April 30, 2015 Read time: 3 mins
German contractor Joh. Sahler has changed its entire fleet of construction machinery to Hitachi Zaxis excavators. The two ZX38U-5s,

ZX48U-3, ZX85USBLC-5, ZX145W-3, ZX170W-5 and ZX190W-3 were ordered by the Leverkusen-based company in June last year and delivered by the country’s authorised Hitachi dealer, Kiesel.

Joh. Sahler was founded in 1945 and is now owned by a third-generation family member, Antonius Eisbach, and managed on a day-to-day basis by directors Dietmar Müller and Matthias Schindler. It has a team of 50 employees who work on road and sewer construction projects for mostly privately owned clients but also some public sector customers.

All of the new machines are supported by a five-year maintenance and service package provided by Hitachi Support Chain and managed by Kiesel. “Kiesel contacted us at exactly the right time at the end of 2013, when we first considered changing all of our machines,” said Matthias.

“We wanted to buy established products that our customers would recognise and feel comfortable with. These machines need to be reliable and work well for at least five years and that is why we have invested in the after-sales package.”

The two-piece boom Hitachi ZX170W-5 wheeled excavator is the largest Zaxis-5 machine at Joh. Sahler’s disposal. It was delivered in July and one of its first assignments was a road construction project near Leverkusen. The €450,000 contract to build a roundabout started at the end of September and was scheduled to finish in December. The ZX170W-5 was the only wheeled excavator on the 3,400m² site, which includes 1,500m² of new road, 100m² of new foot and cycle paths and streetlights and the planting of trees.

“The ZX170W-5 is suited to this type of work, and along with the ZX145W-3 and ZX190W-3, we have a range of wheeled excavators to cover the full scale of our operations,” said Matthias. “It is a classic machine for working on roads, as it is fast and versatile, and can be used on and off road. We’re very happy with our current line-up of machines because our maintenance costs are lower than before and there is minimal downtime.”

“I’m really happy with the overall performance of the ZX170W-5,” explained the ZX170W-5’s operator Mario Tietje, who has been with the company for 30 years. “The cab has more than enough space and a comfortable seat, which is important when working on site for the whole day. It is perfectly suited to this type of road construction work and the best feature is the hydraulics, which work quickly and ensure that the machine is easy to operate.”

Related Content

  • The upcoming bauma 2013 construction equipment show will be the largest ever
    October 16, 2012
    The bauma 2013 construction equipment exhibition in Munich is set to be the largest event in the show’s history. Organised by Messe München, this will be the 30th bauma exhibition in Munich and will run from the 15th-21st April 2013, with the show covering some 570,000m2 and attracting 3,300 exhibitors. Some 450,000 visitors are expected to attend and Dr Wolf-Dietrich Müller, chief representative and senior executive officers of capital goods shows for the Messe München said, “We are able to increase our ca
  • Wirtgen’s rapid road rehab
    April 30, 2024

    It’s a picturesque Sicilian landscape of small roads stretching up and down hills and around tight curves. But when these small roads need big renovations, it takes a large machine to do it fast and efficiently. This is why a contractor chose the W 210 Fi large milling machine which can mill up the entire roadway in two-to-three passes.

  • Booming Chinese aggregate demand
    February 22, 2013
    Global demand for construction aggregates is set to increase 5.2% a year until 2015 to 48.3 billion tonnes, according to research by The Freedonia Group in the United States. The same source tips China alone to account for half of all new aggregate demand worldwide in the period 2010-2015. Guy Woodford reports on the growing importance of the Asian aggregates market. China is already the biggest nation for aggregate production and use in the world, and the competition among the giants of aggregate productio
  • Volz: process optimisation in road construction
    November 9, 2017
    Technological advances for paving machines have greatly improved road surfaces. More advances are coming through Business Process Optimising modules, writes Stefan Volz, general manager of Volz Consulting